A detective attempts to uncover the mysterious death of a young American virgin
working in a florist shop. Piecing together the jigsaw puzzle, he tells us 67
virgins have disappeared in the area over the last 50 years, and all the evidence
points towards a the actions of a pagan cult. Cloaked in a supposed neo-pagan
ideology, Panic is a who did it type murder mystery conveyed to us for the most
part through a series of conversational flashbacks between the detective and the
promiscuous florist, whose shop, the dead girl is found in. The denouement begins
to unwrap when Mr Caprie, the florist's boss attempts to seduce Sarah (young American
virgin) into joining him at summer solstice for a bit of pagan jiggery pokery.

Politics has always been a topic of drama since the early Greeks, but in Athol
Fugard's absurdist play, political asylum is a metaphor for his own alcoholism.

Pavel went AWOL from the Russian front line ten years ago and has been concealed
ever since by his wife Praskovya in their pigsty. To the rest of the world he
is dead. As the play opens Pavel is planning to surrender himself at a military
service to honour heroes, including himself. We witness his emotional journey
from arrogance through utter despair and finally to a humbling acceptance of
his deserved fate.

In this two-hander, Graham Winter and Julie Nicolson deliver a polished, realistic
performance. The absurd subject matter is tempered with the confident portrayal
of the most basic of human emotions - fear. Pavel's desperation to leave
the hell of the pigsty is matched by his paralysing fear of the consequences
of re-entering
the outside world.

You think you're in for a promenade performance but worry not, as after a first
wee whiley, tho the Scots flies oot o the acotrs' gobs, yer bum'll be fair seated
by the cast on a stool or a deckchair ( I recommend the latter). John Heywood
wrote this play in the time of Henry the VIII of England, Edward Stiven's translation
is lively muscular Scots, and director Kate Nelson has got a cast likewise, their
skills well matched to her own.

John Austin, exceedingly, some would say ower, tall, is Jupiter the God who
realising the mortals would like something done aboot the wather, selects a man
to canvass everyone's opinion in Scotland, he makes a striking young God experimenting
how to relate to man.. Stephen Docherty is the canvasser Merry Courant
and he fills this clownlike master of ceremonies with a gallus Scottish charm,
making the hale thing well hingit together. Lynne MacCallum's a fine earthy
keeper and latter wind miller, Caroline MacKellar is the water miller while
Victoria Balnaves is the Merchant looking to make a good deal, Mary
Gapinski is a plums in mouth Scottish Laird and frae the clamjamfry a Scot's
speaking backgreen launderer with pegs and pinny. There are modern touches to
the ancient original, in the characters as well as references, Eileen Buresh
is the smile-struck weather girl come rain or shine and also doubles as the lusious
dame, and the boy, Colin Ferrie is the skate boarding youth the only one
really awed by Jupiter's persence. They all want weather of different varities,
only the boy seems to have the catholic taste living Scotland demands, with its
snow in Summer

Play o the Wather has music and songs and rumbunctious attacking style
which recalls the best of 7.84 in McGrath's time with a less hectoring message
, it's all the more successful for that. As the cast sing from under their umbrellas
about Global Warming, this magical, life engaging version of a play, so clearly
made for the people and of the people, is filled with commitment well deliver
to the audeince.

It felt strange to sit in a darkened room in Edinburgh, waiting to see Pete
and Dud come on stage, over 40 years since they were here with Beyond the Fringe.
But once E L Wisty had appeared and started to explain how he had become a comedian,
"not easy, given the raw material available" this feeling faded. It
was as if they had never gone away at all. The show not only includes lots of
sketches with Pete and Dud, many of them new, but also brings out the failing
relationship between the two, with a rerun of the furious obscene exchanges
between Derek and Clive.

Much of the comedy is very funny, ranging from late night phone-ins about fish,
with Sven the jilted Norwegian, to Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling's pointless expedition
in search of the bee orchid. There are also very moving moments, such as in
the last of a series of interviews with the unctious David Sunday, when Sir
Arthur (aka Pete) is asked why he never realised his full potential. "Not
so", he responds,"I reached my peak at the age of 25, and it's all been
rather difficult since then".

In the midst of candles and incense, in a mystical atmosphere of Cowgate's
Cave I venue, a powerful cry surges from a woman against the repression of all
patriarchy, past and present. In its first visit to Edinburgh, Rasa Productions
introduces to the Fringe audiences Rani Moorthy, a powerful Malaysian performer,
now based in Manchester. In a successful blend of storytelling, video, Hindu
rituals and stand-up comedy, Rani brings to life twelve characters whose stories
disclose the ignorance and prejudice of ancient belief systems. Through word,
song and movement, she expresses the yearning of a modern South Asian woman
to create her own Poojas (Pooja means ritual in Sanskrit). Everything works
in this show. The simple set and lighting add entrancing qualities to Rani's
spirited and funny performance.

This is a one-woman show that must not be missed. So where does that half
dram fit in? It is due to an inexcusable state of the venue, where the damp
dribbles from the walls. We all love the mysterious ambience of Cave I, but
people, please refurbish that place to make it into the stage fit for this amazing
guest performer.

With the tragic events of September 11th rapidly approaching its first anniversary,
it seems inevitable that this festival would be littered with performances related
to the twin towers. They perhaps run the risk of over exposing the tragedy and
draining the audience of any interest or sympathy that they once had.

For the most part, Project 9/11 manages to avoid this trap. Consisting of a series
of monologues by seven multi-racial youths, the piece is often brutally honest
and powerful. It drives the audience to re-experience the fear, anger and pain
that rocked us all, breaking so many hearts, minds and souls. The young cast performs
well, especially Laura Moss, who's energy and emotion throughout comes across
as remarkably genuine and heartfelt, which is reflected in each and every monologue.

The myth of Prometheus performed with stilts and masks could have been an awe
inspiring experience, but the School of Jesters production never develops the
dramatic tension. Why, well acting on silts has limitations not least of which
is the necessity to keep continually shifting your weight from one stilt to the
other. Comically that can work well, in a tragedy or epic it's a distinct liability.
Stand still to be powerful and the performer will topple. Add to that huge masks
worn so that the actor's natural voice has to be amplified to be heard and the
dynamism and delight of the Old Quad's fine acoustics are destroyed. It's hard
to work out which masked figure is speaking to whom, and people on stilts can't
risk getting too close to other performers. The text is mainly given in Greek
with some Japanese and a portentously delivered English explanation of the story
further deadens the proceedings.